Fraud & Identity Featured Article

Welcome to the week in review, where we take a look at all the top stories making headlines in the mobile fraud space this week.

The week started off with the news from iconectiv that SMS fraud is becoming a growing problem that shows no signs of slowing down. A report from the Communications Fraud Control Association states that “around $4.3 billion is lost every year thanks to SMS fraud, and the iconectiv report shows many of the different potential avenues fraudsters have to attack regular users via this highly-popular messaging format,” writes TMC’s Steve Anderson. Everything you need to know is HERE.

Speaking of growing threats, SIM Box fraud is also a problem on the rise, especially in Africa. TMC’s Laura Stotler writes, “SIM box fraud occurs when malicious parties install SIM boxes with multiple prepaid, low cost SIM cards. This enables them to fraudulently terminate international phone calls through local numbers in a specific country, while making it appear as though the calls are local.” Find out how harmful this form of fraud can be, and why it’s becoming so popular in African countries, HERE.

In order to combat all of these fraudulent activities, companies have been teaming up to bring their anti-fraud resources together. This week two sets of companies decided to come together to fight fraud, the first pair being Anam Technologies and Deutsche Telekom. Specifically, DT has named Anam as its new A2P short messaging service (SMS) filtering partner. Anyone with a mobile phone likely knows how annoying it is to receive unwanted texts from companies you didn’t subscribe to. Believe it or not, these messages can be even more damaging to the company that’s unknowingly sending them. Find out more about why this new A2P-related partnership is needed HERE.

The second partnership formed this week to combat fraud is between Ericsson and WeDo Technologies. They’re coming together to provide “businesses assurance and protection against fraud. WeDo is using its software platform in conjunction with Ericsson’s Risk and Business Assurance services to create a suite of products and services that will help identify potential threats and provide means to counter them,” wrote TMC’s Andrew Bindelglass. Find out everything you need to know HERE.

The convenience of mobile messaging has brought communication efficiency to billions of consumers worldwide. As is often the case with widely accepted technologies; however, convenience can provide a vulnerable gateway to fraudulent activity.

Accurate and cost-efficient routing of voice calls and SMS is critical. Unfortunately, gathering reliable routing data on ported numbers and keeping up with constant changes in number plans is expensive and time-consuming.

Communications fraud is a $20B annual global problem and growing. Companies are looking for peace of mind so that their business and their
customers are protected from the onslaught of technology crime that is damaging their reputations and their balance sheets.